I believe that you and your bishop have interpreted it correctly and your view is in line with Alan's comments if I understand them correctly. Not trying to put words in Alan's mouth here. If your ward is "fiscally prudent" and has funds remaining, those funds roll over to the new year and can be used. The key is, that if your unit doesn't need those funds, the appropriate thing to do is to give them back to the stake so they can be reallocated to a better use than simply sitting in your ward account.wcooke wrote:I know this thread has progressed to access to CHI1, but going back to my previous posts. I understand what Alan said, but I guess that we looked it slightly differently. When we heard about the "roll over", our Bishop was very pleased. That policy would seem to "reward" those wards who, during one year, were very fiscally prudent, and didn't spend all of their funds, by letting them use those few dollars left from the previous year for expenses the next year.
I know that with the previous policy, and I guess it remains so, that those wards who have funds left over towards the end of the year will be tempted spend those funds at the end of the year on things that they might not have spent them on if they could have carried the funds over.
Anyway, of course we will follow policy and learn and grow from obedience. All in all, the more I find out about the CUBS system, the more I like it. It seems that it will, over all, be an easier system to use once we get into next year..
I really appreciate this forum. As you can see, I just recently "stumbled" on it, and have learned so much. Thank you to all of you who contribute.
Two things could happen that might test your patience. A stake may just decide to pull any leftover funds without regard to a bishop's plans (not sure if they can do this without the ward writing a check). Or your unit might be nice and send the funds back and they will then be reallocated to a ward full of spendthrifts. In either case, doing what is right will bring blessings and every ward should have enough money in their budget to get the work done.
I believe that what is often lost in budget discussions is the understanding that these are sacred funds that have been donated (oftentimes at great sacrifice) for the building up of the Kingdom. I have concerns about a ward that hurriedly spends the remaining budget at the end of the year so they don't "lose their money". If the purchases were important, why did they wait until the end of the year? And if they are buying relatively useless stuff, couldn't those funds be put to a more important purpose? These are rhetorical questions and not aimed at any person or ward in particular. Just something to think about.